It is not often I will sing the praises of a Tory but I was impressed by Philip Bushill-Matthews’s article in the Birmingham Post about the European Parliament. It gives a simple explanation of some of the jobs an MEP has to do and also covers some of the issues the EU currently faces.

It is pleasing to see such a fair, honest and balanced article coming from a Conservative and is further evidence that it is the outdated, outspoken minority who want the Tories to leave the EPP and not their most effective and articulate European politicians.

Below is a short exert from his article, to read it all click here.

“In the European Parliament we are able to help businesses significantly as well as help people. That is why we are there. You do not get a Common Market by the stroke of a pen. You get it by painstakingly developing common sets of rules by which all agree to abide.

European nation-states operating completely independently will never achieve free trade. Before we joined the EU we were members of EFTA, the so-called European Free Trade Association. It could never deliver free trade, either. That is why we joined the EU, and why we need to be actively and constructively engaged in shaping the
Europe we want despite the many frustrations in the process.

The biggest frustration is that few people know what MEPs do, and even fewer care. The biggest satisfaction is remembering that we were elected to make a difference, and knowing that we can.”